The Starter Job
by Asher Elric
Summary: The team takes on a job for a same-sex couple who run a specialty bar. Only someone is using it to run cons and ruin their reputation. It's up to the team to piece the puzzle together and run the bad guys out of town. Eliot/Nate (in that order) aka slash.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Starter Job**_

_**Fandom – Leverage**_

_**Pairings – Eliot/Nate**_

_**Rating – R**_

_**Disclaimer – I do not own the characters of Leverage or their world. I own the OC's and the copy right to this story. I don't make any money off this; It's just for fun. **_

_**Warnings – Heavy on the slash, m/m, so if you don't like that sort of thing please don't read my story. I only want people who like m/m to read this. Because that means they may leave me nice reviews. Lol. And due to rules, no sex scenes. But if I write them I'll put a link to those who are interested. **_

_**Summary – The team takes on a job for a same-sex couple who run a specialty bar. Only someone is using it to run cons and ruin their reputation. It's up to the team to piece the puzzle together and run the bad guys out of town. **_

_**A/N – I am going to try to write from more POV's this time around. I realized that I mostly did Nate, Sophie and Eliot last time. So, I'll try the others now. Also, the first chapter is all set up. I've also tried for a really long chapter. My document tells me it's 12 pages. **_

_**A/N 2 - I'm sorry I didn't get this up yesterday, so ya'll are in for a treat. 2 CHAPTERS today. :) **_

_**0000**_

_**Chapter 1 **_

_**0000**_

It's a full moon night; not that it could be seen thanks to the bright city lights. Either way, the night is almost day and he has to get the job done or not get paid.

The man is tall is gangly, he wears a fedora; the sort that makes women hate him on site, calling him a 'Bro-nie' whatever that is. He isn't sure and he doesn't care. He takes the gas can and unstops it. He pours it all over the dance floor; the bar and anything else he knows will be caught on fire fast enough.

He waits until he's at the door before he takes out a matchbox; he takes out a match and lights it. He flicks it into the club and then closes the door. Behind him, the gas, lights up and soon enough the fire alarm goes off. The man whistles as he walks away, assured that the job had gone well and he'll be paid a pretty penny for something so simple.

He turns a corner as the fire engine along with her men arrived to put out the fire. Hopefully they'd be too late. But he really doesn't care; any damage is good damage to him.

_**0000**_

McRory's bar and pub is just beginning its lunchtime rush. No longer a hang out for mobsters and bookies, it since has lost its forbidden reputation and is a nice, safe place for families to have a nice lunch or dinner. The décor has been updated but still keeps the Irish pub feeling. Dark woods and greens compliment a bit of red and brown leather.

At a table in the middle of the hustle and bustle sit four people. No one bothers them except the waitress who takes their orders and comes back with alcoholic beverages and a glass of water for the woman.

Gerald and Henry hold hands as they sit before Nathan and Sophie. They both look weary, as if they'd been up all night. Their clothes are dusty with soot and Nate can smell the aftermath of fire on them. He pours them a shot of whiskey.

"What happened last night, fire?" He asks.

"Our place went up like a grass fire." Gerald sighed. He's a lean man with blond hair and green eyes. He wears a sky blue, button down shirt while his life partner wears a green button down. They each wear frowns and vibrations of anguish ripple off them and inflict itself on Sophie and Nate who can read the two men easily.

Henry, who is a bit more muscular than his younger life partner, tries to speak but is choked up. He's the main investor, Nate is sure, and he can't speak. He looks over to Gerald for help. Whose eyes are red and the two seem to believe that their whole world has come to an end.

_Not if I can help them._ Nate thinks. Sophie shifts forwards in her chair; "Tell us what happened from the beginning." Sophie tries to draw the younger one, Gerald, out. Henry doesn't seem too interested in talking, so he's left the job to Gerald.

Gerald takes a deep breath:

"We run a night club called **Hope Flows**; it's a same-sex bar. But we don't turn anyone away, unless they're all ready sloshed; you know? Anyway. We're pretty sure a team of con men moved into the neighborhood and took over out joint. We got plenty of complaints for something called a…pigeon drop…" Gerald said, confused as he related the name of the con.

"Ah," Sophie smiled a bit, "the easiest con in the book."

"What?" Henry asked. Curious. He squeezed Gerald's hand.

"Well, what you do is you help an elderly Mark keep a wad of cash safe for you. But you generate a situation where you switch the envelope that has the money with a different envelope that's the same but is empty or feels like the first envelope. Then you take off with the original envelope while leaving the Mark with the fake envelope." Nate explained, he must have done a good job of it because both Henry and Gerald nodded.

"That sounds about right," Henry muttered.

"But that's not the only con, some people have invested in a ponzi scheme; We keep telling them not to invest with people they meet at our club but no one listens to us and then they want us to take care of the problem. We can't, of course, we're hoping that maybe you could help us get rid of this….con artist team. We know there's at least three of them working our place." Gerald finished with a sigh; he drank the shot of whiskey in one gulp.

"It sounds to me like someone just starting out." Sophie clucked her tongue.

"Yeah," Nate agreed.

"What do you mean?" Henry asked. Gerald shot his partner a sidelong glance.

"Well, a bar is easy pickings for a con artist just starting out. They need to get in the practice before doing anything like what we do." Sophie shrugged. "We all have to start somewhere right?"

"And now it's practically dust," Henry frowned. The two men knew it was far too late for them. Their place is empty, cordoned off by the fire marshals, and lost.

"We can't even get the insurance company to pay out." Gerald said. He pours another shot but sips it this time.

"What company did you go with?" Nate asked, curious. Sophie rolled her eyes, Nate liked taking Insurance Companies down for one reason or another; he'd gotten over it a little bit. But, he still sometimes fell back into old habits.

She decided she'd have a talk with Eliot about it; the younger man could sometimes talk Nate around when she couldn't. Or he just left it, happy to let Fate drag them all by the legs and into a deep dark pit. One they had to climb out of as a team and family.

"Yellow Banana Incorporated." Henry rolled his eyes.

"Or better known as YBI." Gerald shrugged.

"All right, we'll contact you when the job is done." Nate said. The two men nodded, they all shook hands they took off for their home or business to see if they couldn't find a way to revive their club.

"Are you sure this is the sort of job for us?" Sophie asked.

"These People probably can't go to the police, they'll probably being investigated for the fire, it is exactly our kind of job." Nate replied.

The two abandoned the table for Nate's Apartment; which also doubles as the Teams office, much to Nate's consternation. He couldn't get them to leave and take their shit with them. So, he "allowed" them to use his place.

The others would disagree; they each came to some sort of epiphany during that six-month stint of being on their own. They didn't work as well as they did before they decided to become a team and help people during that first year. And once again, they pulled Nate into their clutches and he was quite happy to "let" them. Though they all knew they had successfully conned Nate back into the game, and that is how things were going to say.

Parker, Hardison and Eliot were arguing about something as Nate and Sophie joined them. Nate rolled his eyes and Sophie just gazed at them fondly. Whatever they were arguing about is dropped immediately.

"What do you need, Nate?" Hardison asked. He and the others gathered at the desk.

"YBI, look it up," Nate replied, he gestured at the monitors. He, Eliot, Parker and Sophie sat down at the desk-bar to await Hardison to hack in and get them the information they needed for the job.

"Wow, their security is nuts," Hardison shook his head, "that took me seconds to get into. Lame!"

"Why are you interested in them anyway?" Eliot asked.

"Our clients may not be able to get their claim put through." Nate replied, "their club went up in flames last night."

"Oh, I think we could fix that…" Hardison smiled. Parker giggles and they watched as Hardison approved Henry and Gerald's claim and put it through. It wasn't at the top of the pile, nor the bottom, he placed it in the data banks in such a way that it wouldn't be seen as suspicious.

"It'll take a few days, but they'll get the money." He turned back to Nate who smiled a little and nodded.

"Good Work," Nate said. Because sometimes Hardison needed a little boost to his otherwise big ego; not that Nate didn't appreciate what Hardison did on a daily basis, he just didn't say so as often as he should.

Hardison grinned and then went on about how cool he was with the entire tech and how he was needed. Nate wondered if Hardison felt like he wasn't useful to the team; and if that's why he always insisted on the rest of the team respecting him for it.

Nate sighed.

Eliot gave Nate a sidelong glance; "Really?" he said softly.

Nate shrugged; "Sorry, I just…" he flapped a hand at Hardison. Sophie watched Eliot and Nate have a quiet discussion about encouraging Hardison. Eliot saying not to and Nate saying sometimes because Hardison needed to know the team did appreciate him and all he did for them. She chuckled softly. This time Eliot flicked Nate's ear. Nate shifted away from him and frowned lightly.

"Hey! So what's the job?" Parker asked. Tired of all the flirting.

"That's the problem; we don't know." Sophie said, "All we know is that a team is working the local night club's with a pigeon Drop and fake investment deals." She explained.

"Okay," Hardison turned to them, "are you telling me that we have to check out all the night clubs to find a group of con men?"

"Yes," Nate nodded, "our clients weren't able to identify any one person, mostly because I think they made sure not to become regulars. So they probably rotated and found out the work schedule so that they weren't readily recognizable."

"Wouldn't it be better to be a regular though?" Parker asked.

"Yes and no," Eliot shrugged, "either way, as long as they looked normal and could blend in easily."

"So what's the plan?" Sophie asked.

"Hmmmmmm…..Hardison, let's see what complaints the police have had. We'll have to identify these people ourselves." Nate slapped the table then he turned and walked away and to the kitchen.

Seconds later Parker took a seat on one of the bat stools and watched Nate pour him self some coffee, he skipped putting liquor in it. This made her smile a bit. Taking a nonchalant sip, Nate turned to her. He blinked, not expecting her to be there.

"Yes, Parker?"

"So….you ever gonna tell him?" she asked; Parker twirked a thinly plucked brow at him.

Nate twitched back at her; "Tell him-who what?"

"Eliot," Parker rolled her eyes and snorted a laugh, "that you like-like him!"

She said it a bit loud and Eliot glanced over at them. Nate looked as if he were about to run but he kept his ground. Eliot smiled that smile he did when he was amused and knew he'd put someone else off his or her game. Mostly it applied to Nate.

Parker glanced back and waved at Eliot; who waved back. Sophie and Hardison are watching now and they get a knowing glint in their countenances. Nate licked his lips and looked down at his coffee cup. He really hated the lot of them sometimes.

"So?"

"Parker, please," Nate's voice is low. He knows she's just trying to help, or play matchmaker; but he isn't sure if Eliot has someone on the side they don't know about. In fact, he doesn't know if Eliot even swings that way. Nate, he could do both. The problem is that he wasn't sure if they could have a romance on the side and still put the team and their job first. It's a power imbalance no matter how anyone looks at it.

Parker snapped her fingers at him; "You're silly, Nate!"

And with that she walked away. Hardison and Sophie rolled his eyes at him and Eliot looked like the cat whose ate the canary, he is so pleased with himself. He runs fingers through his hair and Nate just glares at the lot of them.

_**0000**_

After Parker's little meeting with Nate, which went swimmingly as far as Sophie is concerned, she got Eliot alone as they exited the offices/apartment for the night. He usually walked her home while Hardison walked Parker to one of her places – if she wanted company – and sometimes Nate would call later to just to make sure. Their jobs were perilous, he wasn't checking up in a stalker like manner. Parker thought it was a fatherly thing for him to do, Sophie thought it was romantic before she – and he- realized they just couldn't do romance, and as far as Sophie knew – Hardison and Eliot didn't know about it.

"What do you think your next move is?" Sophie asked.

"Move on what?" Eliot asked, though he looked like he knew what she was asking him about. He is all too pleased with himself. Sophie wonders if he's always been angling for Nate or if it's a recent development. Still, Nate and Eliot could do worse.

"Nate," she said. A smirk flashed on Eliot's lips.

"I don't want to scare him off," he replied.

"Nate looked as if he were about to bolt back in that kitchen when Parker asked him about his feelings for you." Sophie nudged Eliot a bit, "he didn't, but we both know he wanted too."

"He's probably afraid," Eliot looked up at the elevator numbers. They'd reached the first floor and the door opened with a ding. The bar beyond is silent, everyone has gone home for the evening. They take the back door out, which locks automatically behind them. Though, they both have keys to get back into the locked building if they had too.

"And what about when Nate was kidnapped?" Sophie asked. "You seemed pretty worried about him."

"We were all worried, Sophie," Eliot reminded her.

"Yes, but you most of all, at least, from what I remember." Sophie shrugged.

"I guess."

"Well, you were very protective of him after that too. Remember when we did that con and Nate almost dropped it? you flew in there like a bat out of hell and beat the Mark and his goons up and they hadn't even touched Nate."

"They were going too," Eliot justified.

"Of course, and that's not criticism, he refused to call you in, of course it is the right thing to do. All I'm saying is that, it was really cute," Sophie said, trying to hide the smile but failing.

"CUTE!" Eliot stopped in his tracks and flailed at her. Sophie laughed.

"Yes, cute, or do you need to clean out your ears?"

"We're not cute!"

Sophie rolled her eyes; "Nate is cute, have you seen how his hair does the curls?"

"Of course," Eliot twitched his nose.

"And if he's uncomfortable he'll stumble around and change the subject? Or how about when he's perceptive and…"

"All right all ready, geeze, I know what you mean!" Eliot walked forwards and past her. Sophie had to job a bit in her heels to catch up.

"You love it, really. I mean, I do."

"Yeah, yeah," Eliot agreed, though he tried to make it sound like he didn't care.

"Anyway, you have to press your advantage," Sophie said, "kick the chair right out from under him and let him know you won't let him budge an inch."

"Did that work for you?" Eliot asked. They came to a stop at an intersection.

"Yes, well, not when he was married. He always had eyes for Maggie then, but before I could and afterwards took a bit of practice but I could do it when it really mattered. Nate sometimes just needs a push in the right direction."

"Push?"

"Just…you know…don't break an arm or something," Sophie slapped Eliot's arm affectionately. Eliot rubbed the spot but didn't say anything to her and they continued on their way.

_**0000**_

Hardison is having a good time kissing Parker; she smells like peaches thanks to the lip balm she uses and she taste just as sweet. He'd really like to get her into bed tonight. She always moaned in certain ways when he touched her and she giggled as she climaxed. But, tonight will not be that night, because Parker has stopped the kiss and she's biting her lip in that way she does when she's mulling something around in her head.

"What is it girl?" Hardison asks.

"It's just….Nate and Eliot…"

"Girl!" Hardison licks his lips and looks up at the sky before shifting his gaze back at her. "They're fine, you know that right? They'll have to figure it out for themselves. And besides, you weren't so worked up over Nate and Sophie."

"They were different, Sophie was handling it. She kinda just…made Nate follow her. You know? But Eliot's different." Parker lent back against the door to one of her hide outs.

"What do you mean different?" Hardison asked.

"He's….manly," Parker shrugged, "And I think Nate likes both. But he doesn't know how to do a man, you know what I mean?"

Hardison didn't, not entirely, but he tried; "I guess."

"It's just, I want them to be happy. Like us!" Parker took his hand in hers. Hardison smiled at her.

"They will be, when they get their shit together, they'll be fine. We just gotta let them be." Hardison replied. Parker didn't like that answer but knew it is likely the only one she'd get from him. Needless to say, she pulled her boyfriend into her loft and Hardison did not make it to meeting with some elves, orcs and rangers online set for later that night

_**0000**_

Nate sat in a leather chair by the window of his apartment nursing some water before bed. It's quiet since everyone has left and it feels empty. The lights are on low and he yawns. He should be thinking about the job, planning the most basic cons thanks to the limited information he has at that moment. But, he knows he probably won't use them because things will change when Hardison gets all the Intel they need.

And he can't help but think about Eliot. Because, as much as he is loath to admit it, he kinda does have a thing for the Hitter. Sophie pointed it out to him when she stopped their extra curricular activities. It was their last time together, in fact. She was getting dressed. He was just fresh from a shower and they were cleaning up their mess so the others wouldn't feel awkward.

It wasn't the passion she felt he lacked when he was with her, or the fore play. No, the fore play is nice, she reassured him. Sophie just thought he was trying too hard. She knew that he didn't want her to think he was looking at other people or cheating on her. Nate still had that honest streak in him and she told him so. She told him that things in life rarely worked the way they thought and she just wasn't feeling it anymore. She wanted to move on, and Nate respected that.

After that she stopped monopolizing his time; in fact, she practically pushed him at the others; preferring to take Parker or Hardison along for a con. Which gave them practice at Grifting and Nate couldn't deny them those opportunities. Of course, they sometimes pulled a con off together. But it is strictly business between them; now, he somehow always ended up with Eliot.

Eliot, who flirts with him nonstop; does the job, but he's different around Nate when they're alone; Eliot will put himself between the team and danger whenever he can. But he seems to always keep Nate in a place where he has an eye on him and anyone who poses a threat. Just last week, even, Nate had found himself on the business end of a gun.

This had the team in near hysterics. Eliot demanding to be called in, the other's urging Nate to do so. Afterwards, they accused him of not trusting them. And they had hoped he'd learnt that lesson when he was down with that injured leg and cold a few months back. When he'd gotten kidnapped, even, to top that whole experience off. Eliot had been there most taking care of him, and Nate remembered what Eliot said and did before he left him in bed that first night after he'd been rescued.

After that, they hadn't talked about it. Nate not wanting to press Eliot into a corner, and Eliot…. probably planning his other moves. And the feelings from earlier persisted. Somehow it was different with Sophie. Maybe it is because he chased her more than the others. Or, that he hadn't been with anyone who had the same parts as him since he was seventeen and had a roll in the hay with Brad Cheswick the summer his Mother sent him to Indiana to be with his grandparents.

Nate sighed; Hardison is right, he learnt his managing style from his Dad. But, they didn't really know. They didn't know that after Jimmy Ford's wife died that he was completely absent from his kid's life. All he wanted from Nate was to carry and fetch. Though he did try to teach him everything he'd have to know for a life of crime. Most of his knowledge about card games and tricks came from his Dad; only, at a cost.

Nate never felt as if he measured up after getting reamed by his old man; he knew he could never actually get what he wanted from Jimmy Ford and so he went the other direction. Instead of helping his old man with the books he took to hanging out at the police station. There he met a Priest and started going to Church regularly and eventually tried his hand at a Ministry college.

He had to drop out though when Jimmy caught pneumonia and needed his kid to be there to take care of him after his stay at the hospital. Nate never went back and he wondered if his Dad's manipulation had a hand in that. But, after he was back on his feet, Nate was back on the street.

Getting the job at IYS was a godsend. And he'd quickly climbed the ladder. Everything from that moment on led to this point in his life. Sitting in a chair, in his empty apartment trying to figure out if he should try for a relationship with Eliot, or not.

Eliot who'd most likely want to be on top; Not that Nate couldn't switch when he had too; the only time he was on the bottom, quite literally, was when he was with Brad, and he remembered that there hadn't been enough stretching, and that is why he'd always been careful with Women. Why he tried to make sure they were comfortable and turned on as much as possible before he inserted himself.

He wondered if Eliot was secretly a bottom; and basically he wondered if they'd have meaningful conversations afterwards. Not like what he and Sophie did. But, he would like a connection that is more than just sex.

And this is the point where Nate knows that Hardison is right; he does with hold affection. He doesn't tell them that they do a good job enough. And when he does they act all surprised. Like it's the first time he's noticed. Nate decides he'll have to work on that. He doesn't actually want them to think he's a big bag of dicks.

Nate finishes his water, and decides to turn in. The problem can percolate until morning.

0000

Eliot is in the middle or a free weight rep cycle when his thoughts turn Nate over, again. Ever since his discussion with Sophie he couldn't get the older man out of his head. And it really annoyed him. He sat on the bench and lost count of the reps but he threw the weight down on the floor. His hands flew to his hair and he grabbed at it as he gritted his teeth.

Nate. Nate. Nate.

What is it about Nate that makes him want to take the man and push him down on a bed, anyway? Eliot couldn't deny that he had a thing for him since the beginning. No, before that; it seemed that people in their circle of society knew everything about Nate Ford. How if he got a scent of a painting or artifact insured by his company that he wouldn't let it go. They'd never met face-to-face before the Dubenich job; and even after it was just hard to talk to the man. Especially when he was drunk off his ass.

Now though, Nate pretty much has that under control. Eliot doesn't feel as if he needs to keep an eye on him all the time. Well, most of the time. He can admit, if only to himself, that he didn't let Nate go too far on jobs. There was that close one when Nate misjudged the Marks and almost got his head shot off. Eliot rushed in even though Nate hadn't called his safe word.

Eliot growled and picked the weight up again; he did three or for reps and then switched arms.

He hadn't talked to Nate about that, not yet. Seriously, he didn't know why sometimes Nate put himself into danger like that. It wasn't a test. That much Eliot knew because he didn't need to be tested. Maybe Nate didn't realize he'd done it until it was too late, or he just didn't see that sometimes he took risks he shouldn't.

Whatever is going on with the man, Eliot knew he had to put a stop to it before he ended up dead. Retirement is one thing, Dead is permanent…

…Unless you happen to be Sophie.

_**TBC**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Starter Job**_

_**Fandom – Leverage**_

_**Pairings – Eliot/Nate**_

_**Rating – R**_

_**Disclaimer – I do not own the characters of Leverage or their world. I own the OC's and the copy right to this story. I don't make any money off this; its just for fun. **_

_**Warnings – Heavy on the slash, m/m, so if you don't like that sort of thing please don't read my story. I only want people who like m/m to read this. Because that means they may leave me nice reviews. Lol. And due to rules, no sex scenes. But if I write them I'll put a link to those who are interested. **_

_**Summary – The team takes on a job for a same-sex couple who run a specialty bar. Only someone is using it to run cons and ruin their reputation. It's up to the team to piece the puzzle together and run the bad guys out of town. **_

_**A/N – I will do my best to make these chapters as long as I can. I hate when it's really short, but that's either how I prefer to format on my computer or how ffnet likes to format. **_

_**0000**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**0000**_

It's just after dawn when the sounds of someone hitting a punching bag, along with arguing, woke Nate. His bed is warm, the haze of sleep is lifting and he groans. It's not even six thirty in the morning. He groans and thinks about snuggling into the covers and ignoring the sounds, but, he has a suspicion that Eliot dragged Hardison over to the gym behind the monitor wall just to bug him. He hears the front door open; Parker and Sophie walk in talking about dresses and shoes. Loudly. Nate buries his face into his pillow.

"But what does it mean if you wear red heels?" Parker asks.

"Red is the color of passion, just a punch means that you're adventurous. If you wear a plain dress with just those red heels it means you want someone to talk with; someone who isn't going to underestimate you." Sophie explained.

"Okay, blue!" Parker threw put another colour.

"Oh Blue….well, it depends on the shade. An Ice Blue means caution. That you aren't going to take someone's bull. A dark blue means you are royalty, to a point. It's mostly a guessing game with blue, but dark has always worked for me." Sophie said. Nate heard her get into the cabinets and the sounds of coffee being made told him where she was and what she was doing. The sounds from the gym hadn't stopped.

They knew he didn't like getting up early; they were doing this to be annoying and he couldn't figure out why. He peaked at the clock. It's only ten minutes past six thirty now and Nate wonders if he should give up and go down or wait until seven and then just rag at them.

"Pink!" Parker shouts, she is really into this conversation.

And annoying Nate into getting up.

Sophie laughs; "innocence. Pink is a combination of red and white. It means that you're not yet ready to be a woman, but you aren't a total virgin. You want to learn the ways of a woman, you're just not there yet." Sophie said.

"And then if I wear red, it means that I am a woman and looking for some action right?" Parker asks.

"That's right." Sophie agreed.

Nate groaned and rolled over in bed. He decided that he'd lost the war and he might as well go down and bitch at them all.

_**0000**_

Sophie smirked when Nate finally joined her and Parker in the kitchen; he is still dressed in pj bottoms and a t-shirt. His dark curls are messed up and he looks adorable when he's just awoken. Sophie smirks as she hands Nate a fresh cup of coffee. She and Parker sip theirs.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Sophie asked. Parker giggled. Nate deadpanned at them.

"Well?" Parker wiggled on her stool and Nate rolled his eyes.

"No, you didn't. The boys did." Nate said as he pointed in the direction of Eliot's gym. Hardison is saying something to Eliot about how he could just hack the technique, Eliot growls and is probably making Hardison do the technique, the right way. There are a few more smacks of the sand bag. Not as strong as Eliot's, though, and Nate wonders how he knows that.

"Are they punching the bag?" Parker asked, excitedly; before Nate could form a reply, Parker abandoned her coffee and was running across the room to join Eliot and Hardison. She giggled and joined in. Hardison cursed and Eliot just laughed.

Nate shook his head while Sophie slid up next to him. Nate tried to ignore her. He really, really did. But Sophie is just one of those people that can't be ignored unless she wanted to be; she quirks an eyebrow at him.

"Have you talked to him yet?" Sophie asked.

"No." Nate almost snorted coffee through his nose trying to deny it; he wasn't even sure when his thoughts and feelings had turned to Eliot, so really, he was trying to figure it out still.

"He's just worried about you." Sophie clucked her tongue at him.

Nate rolled his eyes and turned to her; "Worried? More like pissed."

Sophie's lips went firm; "Well, you didn't say your safe word to call him in and we don't like it when you take those risks." Sophie huffed. She slapped Nate on the arm. Nate raised a hand to rub the spot where she'd abused him.

"I didn't know the guy had a gun, okay?" Nate shrugged. He hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, collecting the words to explain himself: "I was in the middle of the con and he…. brought out the gun. If I said my safe word he would have known."

Sophie deadpanned. "Yeah, and did it work out after Eliot beat their asses black and blue?"

Nate shrugged; "Eeeehhhhh…" he flailed a bit. "It wasn't anything we didn't recover from. Really."

Sophie slapped him again. "Eliot sent four guys to Hospital for you!"

The others joined them then. Eliot pointed at her. "Do it again, Sophie, he deserves it."

Hardison and Parker laughed while Nate frowned; Sophie slapped him again. This time it hurt. Nate rubbed at the spot and frowned at them harder.

"Hey! Stop abusing me!" Nate mocked them; he moved away from Sophie just in case she decided to take another shot at him. Eliot just smiled. Hardison and Parker sat down at the bar. Parker took ownership of her cup again.

"Nate! Make us pancakes!" Parker demanded. Nate didn't cook often but when he did it was pancakes and somehow it turned out to always be Saturdays and when he had spent too much time thinking about his son.

Nate blinked. "Aaahhh…"

The team cringed and Parker looked down at her cup; "I won't blow up the kitchen this time," she promised. Eliot, Hardison and Sophie just looked at Nate that silently communicated at him to make Parker pancakes. It hadn't been her fault that the kitchen blew up the last time anyway and Nate never did blame her, no matter what the others thought.

Nate blinked at them and then made his decision.

"I tend to burn them…" Nate shot a look at Eliot.

"You make the batter and I'll fry it up," Eliot said. He grinned and slapped his hands together. He loved to cook. He usually cooked for the team but Parker's move really put him into a good position. Sophie is right; he did have to push Nate a little.

Nate hid a small smile behind his cup; and here they thought they were so smart. Eliot caught his eye and smirked. Parker grinned and fist pumped the air and even Hardison and Sophie looked pleased. Sophie winked at Eliot and motioned towards Nate who'd gone searching for a mixing bowl and the ingredients for his Mother's pancake Recipe. He'd told them once, a while ago when he was mostly drunk!Cooking, that his Mother had shown him how to do it and it was something they did every Saturday and that when his former Job hadn't taken him away from the family – he'd make them with Sam.

Sophie took charge of the table being set while Nate and Eliot shared the kitchen duties with Nate making the pancake batter while Eliot got bacon and eggs together. The kitchen is rather big, but somehow, when no one was "looking" Eliot would "accidentally" brush up against Nate. The older man didn't seem to notice but once or twice Eliot made him blush. The others, well aware of the game, just watched and took bets. Sophie won when Nate actually did react to Eliot pinching his butt.

"Aren't I supposed to be doing that?" he asked, slightly annoyed. Eliot laughed and winked at him in return. And Nate gave up. He handed Eliot the pancake batter with a "don't ruin it."

In a while breakfast was ready and Nate had to put up with more teasing from Sophie. They all sat down at the table, Nate at the head for reasons he couldn't fathom but left it anyway. Eliot is at his left, and Parker at his right. Hardison is next to Parker and Sophie across from him. Nate wondered when she and Eliot had traded chairs. It felt weird to him they seemed fine with it.

"Nate," Parker poked him in the elbow with a syrup-covered fork; "what's wrong?"

Nate blinked at her, he must have gotten lost in his thoughts. He shook his head, then smiled; "I'm fine, what about the pancakes, did Eliot ruin them?" Nate asked.

Eliot grunted and rolled his eyes.

"What?" Parker snorted, "no!"

"Oh? Good." Nate nodded and dug into his own plate of food, if only to get the others off his back. Too much drinking and not enough food made him a bit on the thin side for their liking. And he'd actually like to get through a meal without them glaring daggers in his direction.

"So, what's the plan? Have you come up with one yet?" Parker asked.

Nate, once against brought out of his thoughts, shrugged at her.

"We'll have to get our clients to identify the group who worked their bar." Hardison said.

"Which is easier said than done," Nate agreed, "or we act like the stupidest Marks on the planet and go from there."

"What?" Sophie gaped.

"Well, if Gerald and Henry can't tell us who was conning people at their bar, we'll have to do things the hard way." Nate didn't look at any of them. It was even the worst plan he'd ever come up with and that was saying something.

"It's a crap shoot," Parker muttered.

"A real gamble," Eliot agreed.

"Parker and Eliot, later I'll need you two to go around the bars and ask around for people being conned or whatever looks weird," Nate said, "I'll go talk to our friends at the Police Station, Hardison can do his stuff online, and Sophie can either go with you guys or with me."

Sophie gave that a thought; "I think I'd do better with Eliot and Parker."

Nate nodded. That settled they finished breakfast, cleaned up and then went on their way. Nate is last out of the apartment because he had to take a shower and dress before he went to see his source in the Blue Collar department of the Boston Police.

**0000**

Jessup Haralson is two years older than Nate and they ran the neighborhood when they were kids. Everyone thought they'd take the places of their old men when they grew up. Nate being a bookie and a middle man for the mobs while Jessup took over as the head of the Haralson Mob family. No one thought that one day both would have taken up going after the bad guys. Jessup as an Officer of the Law and Nate as an Insurance Investigator; he'd argue that the job was pretty much gray and black but no one would have listened to him. He may have signed off on a few too many claims on house fires located in Idaho when an arsonist was on the loose…. and then caught said arsonist when he was on another job in that area. But no one ever questioned it because he was just that good at his former job.

Now though Nate is pretty much trying to stay under the radar of the law; he doesn't enter the station through the front doors but the back when no one is looking and the camera is facing a direction and he's in its blind spot. Jessup's office is in the basement and he's the only one manning it at the moment.

Jessup is a bit shorter than Nate, but he's studier and is always better in a fight. He wears a regular black suit with an ill styled tie; it's not a garish color, it's just too thin for his suit. Jessup looks up and he grins hugely when he see's Nate. He runs hands through blond hair as he jumps up.

"Come on Nate!" he motions the other into his office. He clears off a chair which had been holding files; he piles those on the floor and Nate closes the door behind him.

"Long time no see, I thought you'd forgotten about me." Jessup says. "Coffee?" he motions to a part of a long table with holds a coffee maker cups and doughnuts. Nate agrees and Jessup pours them both some and brings over the doughnuts.

"I'm sorry that this isn't a social visit," Nate apologizes first.

"its fine, any excuse to see an ol' pal o' mine!" Jessup replies.

"Yeah?"

"Sure, now what sort of stolen art are you after this time?" Jessup asked innocently enough. He picked up a glaze and took a bite.

"Actually, I'm no longer an Insurance Investigator," Nate came clean. He'd usually talk around it; but Jessup and he kept some secrets that would have ruined them if either had squealed.

"Do you remember that time we stole that boat?" Jessup asked.

Nate laughed, "we took it to Florida, sold it and then hitch hiked our way back here. Our old men were so pissed when we finally showed up." He shook his head.

"So, why'd you quit your job? I thought everything was going fine in California?" Jessup could change the subject faster than a cricket could hop and that was saying something. Nate sipped his coffee.

"I didn't quit, I got fired."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

"Sam's gone."

"You mean….?"

"Yeah."

"Oh man…"

"It's fine, it's been years,"

"Still, I'm sorry."

"I got through it."

"So why are you here now?"

"Do you know about anything I've done in the last few years?" Nate asked.

"Interpol has been around spouting stuff," Jessup shrugged, "Did you go to the dark side?"

Nate had to appreciate the Star Wars reference. He chuckled and wiggled a bit in his seat.

"Yeah, kind of." He shrugged.

"Well, what do you need from me?"

"I need to know about the biggest con team in the area."

"You mean besides Leverage Inc.?" Jessup laughed.

Nate shrugged.

"All I can give you is Alex Harding."

**0000**

"It rhymes," Parker muttered to Sophie. They sat at the desk with cups of tea. Nate and Eliot were on the other side and Hardison is bringing up all the information he had on Alex Harding. Eliot sat rather close to Nate and softly flicked the ear nearest him. Nate glanced over, instead of merely ignoring it, Eliot just grinned at him.

"You have a weird way of flirting with me." Nate muttered softly.

"And finally you notice," Eliot winked. His accent got a bit deeper and Nate found that he suddenly grew hot. Eliot snickered into his hand and Nate really wished he'd conquered this particular tell.

"Hey!" Hardison slapped the desk in front of them. Nate jumped in surprise but Eliot did a better job of covering his surprise; "are you two love birds done? Can we get on with this?" He turned to his wall of televisions and brought up a picture of a man. He's ebony black with a shaved head and very bright, white teeth. He resembles Hardison to a T. But he wears wire-rimmed glasses. Otherwise, he could be Hardison's twin.

"Don't get me mixed up with him," Hardison growled. The team decided not to antagonize him.

"Go on," Nate flapped a hand. Hardison rolled his eyes but started the briefing.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

_**The Starter Job**_

_**Fandom – Leverage**_

_**Pairings – Eliot/Nate**_

_**Rating – R**_

_**Disclaimer – I do not own the characters of Leverage or their world. I own the OC's and the copy right to this story. I don't make any money off this; its just for fun. **_

_**Warnings – Heavy on the slash, m/m, so if you don't like that sort of thing please don't read my story. I only want people who like m/m to read this. Because that means they may leave me nice reviews. Lol. And due to rules, no sex scenes. But if I write them I'll put a link to those who are interested. **_

_**Summary – The team takes on a job for a same-sex couple who run a specialty bar. Only someone is using it to run cons and ruin their reputation. It's up to the team to piece the puzzle together and run the bad guys out of town. **_

_**Warnings FOR THIS CHAPTER – ummm….a bit of a shower scene, I guess, in old school language I'd call it an orange. Because ffnet doesn't like sex. So I'll post the entire scene on my DW account for those to read. **_

_**A/N – First off, I have a thing for BDSM. But, there won't be a lot in here. I am still debating that for the "lost" Scenes; I'm going to do what's right for the story and not because it's a kink of mine. And yes, unlike SOMEONE **__**coughELJAMEScough**__** I have actually done research into the BDSM lifestyle and am merely waiting for a partner I can trust with that sort of thing. So, here I am, writing about it instead. I just think it's interesting. Also. I decided to not make the bad guys club completely BDSM because the concept doesn't fit the story, but I have alluded to it. There isn't anything at all explicit in this chapter. Also; I don't care who reads my "lost" scenes. But if someone is underage, and parents catch you, don't blame me. I warned you. **_

_**0000**_

_**Chapter 3**_

_**0000**_

"Alex Harding is a mole; he resorts to Corporate Espionage to make big bucks. He grew up in a rich family, went to college but barely graduated. He's not as brilliant as his old man who runs a Security Consulting firm. So far he's been lucky to escape with his name in tact, or he uses a different identity." Hardison explained.

"Oh, this is good." Nate rubbed his hands.

"You're thinking of the English switch?" Sophie asked.

"The backwards tail light?" Eliot asked.

"Oh! Oh!" Parker raised her hand, "the Swash buckle Shuffle!"

Nate, Eliot, Hardison and Sophie turned to look at her; "the what?" Nate asked.

"Er…" Parker pursed her lips.

"It's a nice name, we'll figure out something to put to it, anyway…." Nate tried, at least, "I am thinking of the Prince and the Pauper."

"Wait, you mean that story about the prince who gets bored so he finds someone who looks like him to take his place so that he can go slumming?" Sophie asked.

"Yes," Nate sat back in his chair.

"How are we going to do that?" Hardison asked.

"You need to know everything you can about him, all of his mannerisms, how he treats people. Basically, you need to think and feel like him. Secondly, we need to have a place to stick him…" Nate pointed at the picture of their Mark.

"And what does this have to do with our clients?" Parker asked.

"I know it sounds weird, but he gets bored easily; what we need to do is give him a game. And while we keep him busy, Hardison can investigate what he does in the company. We need to take away both streams of revenue and reveal him for the mole he is. Even his family is going to feel it." Nate explained.

"I have an idea!" Sophie clapped her hands and grinned.

Nate turned, frowned; "you want to take point?"

"No, I think Eliot should. He hasn't had a chance yet." Sophie replied.

Nate thought about it for a second, and then turned to Eliot. "Do you want to…ah…?"

Eliot couldn't help but grin and nod. "Yeah. This one is mine."

Nate nodded knowing that he was in for it, but hoping that Eliot could plan better than Hardison. He definitely did not want to teach Eliot any "lessons". Then, Nate got another idea all together and maybe this suggestion of Sophie's wouldn't be so bad.

"Good….impress me!" Nate said, and then walked away.

Hardison stood in front of his wall with his arms crossed; the girls giggled and Eliot suddenly wondered why he never asked for this in the first place.

**0000**

The water is hot and Nate basks in it; steam fogs up the mirror and the fan is loud in the bathroom. He doesn't turn it on all the time but he needed the noise now. He couldn't deny how hard he got when Eliot became pushy. And he'd been pushy all evening. He left them to plan. All he had to do was sit back, possibly grift, and watch Eliot work. He hardly ever got to have that chance. Eliot had the same gift Nate does, well, kind of. He used it differently. He knew where the parts went; he knew how to make them work. And he didn't need a very complex plan to do it.

Nate didn't touch himself. He wanted to bask in it. He wanted it to last. He pushed his face into the hot water and closed his eyes. He never felt this way when Sophie got hands on with him. He felt rather angry when she did it; so what's the difference with Eliot? Is it because he knows how to do it? how to push him in such a way that he'll receive whatever Eliot wants to do to him or…is it something else? Something baser?

Nate jumped when two strong arms wrapped around his middle. He hadn't heard the door open, or Eliot getting naked or the push of the shower curtain as Eliot got in. "If I were here to kill you it would have been easy." Eliot muttered into Nate's ear. Then he bit it slightly. A shiver went through Nate.

"Yeah," Nate agreed.

"You know, I have other ways to impress you," Eliot said. Nate couldn't help but smile.

"Oh really?"

"But can you impress me?" Eliot challenged him.

Nate took it.

**0000**

"Okay, so our guy runs a really high end gay club," Eliot said. His hair is wet but he's dressed as usual. Nate sits quietly with a cup of coffee and has turned his attention to Eliot. Sophie and Parker exchange a knowing glance while Hardison just glares. Eliot had the control and doesn't seem to have any trouble operating Hardison's system.

"Nate and Sophie usually grif together but it'll be best if Parker and Sophie do it this time." Eliot turned to the girls. Hardison looked over at Nate. Who didn't object.

"Whoa, really?" Hardison asked.

"It's a gay bar open to Lesbian's and Gay…dudes….Hardison! We can't send in a het couple. They'd stand out too much." Eliot glared over at Hardison. Nate raised an eyebrow. But didn't say anything. He much rather they deal with it on their own and not bother him with such grievances. If asked, though, he'd have to agree with Eliot.

"Oh!" Sophie interrupted before the fight could get physical, "I have the perfect cover. Nate remembers this one…." She winked at him. Nate refused to be embarrassed.

"Emily…?" he tried to remember the last name. Actually, it'd been years since Sophie brought out her Dominatrix cover.

"Emily Dobson!" Sophie filled in for the rest of the team; "For a while in Spain I was the ultimate Dominatrix. I made a ton of money with that one." She sighed.

"Ooooh!" Parker is very impressed; it's painted all over her face.

"Good, good….Parker needs something…" Eliot turned to thinking. "Can you Sub for Sophie?"

"Sub?"

"As in Submission," Eliot said, trying to be far more patient.

"Ummm…" Parker just blinked.

"It's called BDSM," Nate interrupted kindly, "what happens is that a couple negotiates kinks and fetishes between them. How far they'll go and what they won't do, or what they'll think about. And they'll also agree on a safe word. Not all couples are strictly just Dom and Sub, sometimes they switch. It really just depends on them. Basically, if you and Sophie are a couple, and if she's the Dom in the relationship you'd be the Sub. Are okay with that?" Nate asked.

Parker thought about it for a moment. "We wouldn't actually have to do anything, right?"

"We'll just act like other couples, hold hands, and caress each others faces. That sort of thing; we won't have to do anything more if you aren't comfortable with it." Sophie reassured.

"Hey!" Hardison objected.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Eliot pointed at Hardison. "You're the clubs new bus boy."

"What?"

"Well, you can't mix cocktails can you?" Eliot challenged.

"I can so!"

"No, you can't. I've seen you try and you just suck."

"Hey yeah, Nate's better at it!" Parker snapped her fingers.

"Are you for real girl?" Hardison looked gob smacked.

"Hardison, no one looks at the bus boy, do they?" Nate asked, "People don't notice some people, like Taxi drivers. People get into Taxi's all the time and don't know that whoever is driving them is into."

"Have you been watching Sherlock….again…?"

"Anyway, Nate's got the bar job." Eliot said, putting a finish to the argument before Hardison could say anything more.

"And what about you?" Nate asked. Curious.

"I'll be a customer." Eliot replied. "They'll feel far more comfortable in their club. They probably won't try a scam but I bet you someone will try."

Nate nodded; "All right."

Eliot smiled. And then frowned; "you don't mind that I scrapped your earlier plan?"

Nate shrugged; "I like yours better anyway."

Hardison rolled his eyes.

**0000**

"Man, I can't believer you're okay with this?" Hardison spoke under his breath to Nate as he poured more ice into a cooler for iced drinks. Nate is shinning up glasses. He all ready has the limes and lemons cut. He spent a day making all the drinks on the bars menu, and he plied them at the rest of the team; he made several before they decided he had them down perfectly. Nate also worked on his show skills. There is an art to bar tending other than pouring whiskey into a small shot glass.

"Hardison," Nate sighed, "let Eliot have his time in the lime light." He really didn't need them bickering right now. He couldn't say that he'd been very supportive the first time Hardison pushed his way to be point on a job, nor the second time with his video game concocted con that went AWOL half way through which he then had to rescue them from; Sophie had asked to be point and while Parker hadn't the chance as of yet, Nate is pretty sure she'd make a good Mastermind if he taught her.

Seriously, Eliot having this job wasn't the end of the world; even if Hardison really wanted to be point on this one, he is good at the technical things and Nate wonders if it's Hardison's insecurities acting up whenever he wants to take charge. Nate decides he probably should offer it to them more often. He won't be around forever, after all. One day, he'll retire and they'll be left to carry on. If they wanted.

Hardison didn't say anything else to him as he hurried to fill the ice cooler at the other end of the bar. Alex Harding hadn't shown his face at all in the last hour that they were left to get ready to open. The head Waitress had showed them both around and told them what to do and where things were, thankfully, they showed her that they wouldn't need her to supervise them. She went off to the back room for secret reasons. This gave them a chance to hide small button cams all over, and look at the security.

It was pretty basic, and Hardison had the easiest time, since hacking into the Pentagon, getting that feed and looping it to their own head quarters. Eliot is back there watching. He has the bars feed and the feed from the button cams.

"We have to get three of the button cams into the office," Eliot says.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Hardison shot back.

"Parker taught you how to pick a lock right?" Eliot deadpanned. Nate ducked his head and tried not to laugh while the two bickered. It is amusing when they get together for "training sessions". Parker is always trying to get them to pick locks in under six seconds, Sophie is on grifting, Hardison shows them simple stuff on the computer, Eliot of course with the self defense and boxing lessons, and Nate plays chess with them.

Their last lock picking session ended with Hardison having the worst time. It's an unwritten rule that they not speak of it unless they wanted Hardison to gain revenge via computer. None had been that brave.

"I hope you're happy when I get caught," Hardison mutters. He won't chance it now. Amy, the head waitress and manager of the bar, hasn't been seen since she disappeared into the office and they refuse to drop character because they know she can see the security footage of them working. The other waitresses are also getting the place ready.

Tonight is Soccer night; there are free lemon shots every hour on the hour and they're expecting a full place. Hopefully Hardison will have a chance to sneak into the office. As far as they know, there isn't a camera in there. Nate just hoped that Hardison came through for them. They'd be taking a chance if they got Parker back there. He hoped Eliot knew that too. He isn't going to insult his Hitter by mentioning it.

The girls tried not to twitter at each other too much as they got dressed and Sophie explained things to Parker and they got their covers together. Sophie and Parker decided not to dress too exorbitantly but the money will show; they won't show up in gaudy fetish wear either. Sophie was of the opinion that if they wanted the group to con them, they needed to show that they had some class. Nate had to agree with that. Also, Eliot knew when to just leave it to them.

They'd show up later. Right now all Nate and Hardison had to do are their jobs until they sussed out whom is part of the con group that are victimizing patrons. If they were smart, they wouldn't con people in their HQ.

**0000**

Alex showed up at the club an hour later than normal; his father had the gall to call him into the office and fire him. Okay, maybe he deserved it after selling his father's own secrets to their competition. But, he never thought that his old man would fire him. He also was invited to dinner that Friday. So all in all life was looking rather bad at the moment and he needed to make some money before things fell in.

"I really don't like your idea," Leslie muttered, she's a small brunette who has a penchant for pick pocketing. She and Alex had to take a taxi because the company car he'd usually drive was taken from him when he was fired. He's basically out on his ass.

"I don't care, how am I going to pay off four mortgages and several car payments?" Alex asked, annoyed that one of his underlings would even question him. Leslie rolled her eyes as Alex walked away from the taxi and she was left with the bill. She jogged after him. The line was getting longer but their Bouncer's handled it with professionalism. If they worked it right the club could sustain them until they came across a job with a very good pay off.

Alex worked his way through the crowd. Soccer nights were big for the sports fans. Several regulars sat at the bar watching; of course the fetish stage in the back is also being used. But, mostly by those who were far more interested in showing off their art. Either way it made him money and he didn't care. Each couple brought their own gear and the stage was rented to them at fifty for half an hour. It's separated from the main room by walls and no one would know it was there if they didn't know about it all ready. The screaming soccer fans didn't bother them; the walls had been sound proofed for that reason.

He also, however, noticed a new bar tender. The man is older than most but he's showing off by flipping bottles in such a way that several patrons are screaming when he finishes the stunt. He has the brightest, boldest, blue eyes Alex has ever seen in his life. He's wearing all black and he can't help but admire even though he's got bigger fish to fry.

He makes a personal note to talk to him after they close; but right now he had to find a job for him and his team to make some money from. Then, he'd probably close the place and move to Rome. And find a way to stick it to his Father. He didn't deserve to be pitched out onto the street without a penny to his name.

"You know," Margaret twirled in the desk chair. "If you hadn't gambled the money away you wouldn't be in this position."

"Did Larry gossip, again?" Alex sighed. He went over to his personal wet bar and poured himself some very high-end scotch. He chugged it down, and then poured another finger.

"He may not be as good as Chaos but he isn't a dummy." Margaret raised a finely tweezed brow at him.

"Will the lot of you stop questioning me all ready?"

"That's not how these things work," Margaret rolled her eyes. "You aren't a mob boss, we aren't your minions. We are a team. We have to work as a team."

"What are you talking about?"

"I wish we were like Ford's team. They're…. I've heard stories about them. They would cream us if we didn't see them coming first." Margaret sighed as if she were in love.

"Who?"

"Seriously? You don't now anything about Nathan Ford and his team?"

"I don't really care," Alex shooed her out of his chair and then sat down in it as she went to go manage the bar.

"You should, I hear they aren't push overs." And with that she left with a small smirk on her red-lipstick stained lips. Alex watched her leave. She was right. He had to kick his gambling habit, before it killed him.

**0000**

Two hours later Sophie and Parker arrive under their covers of Emily Dobson and Mindy Lecter. Sophie's dressed in a skin tight, black dress that doesn't show a lot of cleavage, but a lot of leg. Parker is in a silver mini dress with her hair curled and they look like they have money. They don't make much of an impression at first. But they take a table and the both of them immediately charm the waitress. She smiles and she gets them their drinks. Nate makes it just the way he knows they like their individual cocktails, but why in hell Sophie would want an apple martini he has no idea. He watches them sip their choices; they make faces and then switch. They seem happy after that and he can't help rolling his eyes.

"I saw that, Nate," Parker mutters loud enough for the COM to pick up. Nate doesn't speak back. He's far too busy making drinks and showing off. But Sophie can't blame him for it. For once he can just relax and leave all the decision making to someone else. In a way, Nate is Subbing to Eliot. The rolls are reversed and she can't help but feel rather excited for them.

"What are we supposed to do?" Parker sat forwards.

"We're here to be a distraction." Sophie replied.

"How?"

"We'll order some food, don't worry," Sophie winked. Parker cocked her head at the older woman and then nodded. Their waitress came by with water and they ordered some simple food that wouldn't be too messy to eat. Nate kept an eye on them as he performed for his crowd and served the best drinks they'd ever gotten. The other bartenders didn't seem to mind since it took some of the work off of them. Hardison kept up with his cover. Just a down and out college boy scrounging around for any work he could find that wasn't illegal. Margaret had even talked to him about working his way up to being a bar tender. He'd have to be a waiter first, but she said she gave all new employs the chance. He felt as if someone around there cared.

Eliot finally showed his face; he took to a quiet spot and was served by Sally. Which was good because he didn't want to give anyone the idea that he and Nate knew each other at all. Sometimes a con could go sideways if they off the impression that they weren't strangers. Nate didn't look towards him either. Good. They all had tells and none of them could afford to drop the game now. Especially so early in it; also, he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Nate.

He really wanted to use this as a way to seduce Nate into his bed; the shower had been a bonus he wasn't expecting but hoping for. It was a test to see how receptive Nate would be to a relationship with him, and Eliot counted it as a success. Especially when defining their rolls in bed. Nate is naturally someone who wants to be in control, and probably more so since his son died. Eliot is mostly happy letting him be that. Sophie learnt too that Nate needed it, Parker never really cared but Hardison sometimes pushed too hard. But, in the end Nate either came around or they came around to him. So it's a win no matter what.

He turns to watch the club. The soccer game is over and the crowd disperses. People come out in various leather outfits from a room in the back where the Play goes on. As far as he see's everyone is happy, if a bit red from certain exertions. None of them look as if they've been abused so he doesn't look too close.

Then it happens, Parker lets out a cry of disgust and Sophie looks shocked beyond all measure. Their waitress hurries to their table to see what the matter is. There is a giant, German cockroach on a plate and the waitress takes off for the back office. Then Alex Harding appears.

"All right, Hardison, it's a go." Eliot orders through the COM. Hardison is ignored in favor of Sophie and Parker who're playing it up like the con women they are. Eliot would like to watch entirely, but he's afraid that if he's too intent it'll be noticed if anyone watches the security footage later. He turns. Nate watches a bit more interested but most of the staff are so it's not out of the ordinary.

"Got it," Hardison said.

"Not bad, twenty seconds," Eliot muttered back because he was the only one who could. He appreciated that Nate wasn't throwing suggestions out or doing what he normally did as the Mastermind. He was leaving it to Eliot and that made him a bit more courageous than normal.

The plates were being taken back to the kitchen as Alex chatted with Parker and Sophie. He was making all sorts of reassurances and promises. Finally Sophie agreed to a free dinner sometime that next week. They'd use it as an opening. Margaret is at the bar chatting with Nate, asking if he's seen any big bugs.

Nate cringes; "I'm not a fan of cockroaches."

"I just want to know if I need to shit the place down and call in a bug specialist." Margaret deadpanned. Eliot hid a smirk behind his glass. Though he never looked over or moved in that direction. Instead he started making small talk with a man near him, because it's a gay bar and in a way he is gay, but for Nate, not in general. He still hasn't figured that one out but it doesn't matter. He has to keep a cover and look as normal as possible.

"Well, I may have seen a few crawl up the wall behind us," Nate said and indicated said wall. Margaret got a chair and poked at a few of the ceiling tiles. When she came to on near the wall, a shower of cockroaches rained down on her and Nate.

"Oh shit!"

"Health hazard, you have to close now or you'll be in trouble with the city."

"Okay, I'm out." Hardison said. All they had to do was finish the distraction and get out then. Margaret rushes over to Alex, he gives his regrets to the girls and they take off. Then he and Margaret fight about closing the bar down and getting in an exterminator. Margaret eventually wins the fight. Eliot pats the guy on the back he'd been talking too, he paid for their drinks and made excuses to leave.

"I'll meet you and Hardison at our place after your shift ends," Eliot said. Nate couldn't reply but Eliot knew both had heard him.

**0000**

It's nearly four in the morning when Nate gets back to his apartment. He finds no one there. He has the thumb drive from Hardison which he plugs into a computer for when the young man does arrive.

Nate is too wound up to sleep though he knows he needs an hour or so to recharge. He usually doesn't mind late nights but this one had been a doozy. It is a good thing they were able to find a blind spot in the security system to exploit when Margaret was busy in the office. Their ploy had paid off and for now that's all that matters. Though he may want to consult Eliot about the rest of it.

Speaking of; he found Eliot in his bed reading a book on strategy. Nate went to his closet to get a change of clothes; Eliot looked up once from his book and then went back to reading. He didn't say anything until Nate decides to crawl into bed.

"I don't think I can sleep right now," Nate says, though he yawns.

"Yeah?" Eliot isn't gruff; he puts his book on the table and turns off the lamp. He curls up at Nate's back and winds his arms around the older man. This should be different. He knows, as he takes Nate's wrists into his hands as a way to keep Nate in place. But, Nate doesn't seem to mind. In fact, if he gives it a bit more thought Nate tends to go for strong willed people. Work is probably the only place where he wants to be in charge and doesn't give a care in the rest of his life. At least, the team had been able to bring Nate back into the fold after their first separation.

Eliot twins his legs with Nate's and he knows that if Nate moves at all during the next few hours he'd be awake in seconds. He isn't worried that he couldn't wrestle Nate into position if he had too. Nate sighs and relaxes, not minding that Eliot really wants the control right now.

Eliot decides that they can deal with that later after some sleep. He just wanted to know that Nate is safe and here they are sharing Nate's bed. Yes, everything is fine.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

_**The Starter Job**_

_**Fandom – Leverage**_

_**Pairings – Eliot/Nate**_

_**Rating – R**_

_**Disclaimer – I do not own the characters of Leverage or their world. I own the OC's and the copy right to this story. I don't make any money off this; it's just for fun. **_

_**Warnings – Heavy on the slash, m/m, so if you don't like that sort of thing please don't read my story. I only want people who like m/m to read this. Because that means they may leave me nice reviews. Lol. And due to rules, no sex scenes. But if I write them I'll put a link to those who are interested. **_

_**Summary – The team takes on a job for a same-sex couple who run a specialty bar. Only someone is using it to run cons and ruin their reputation. It's up to the team to piece the puzzle together and run the bad guys out of town. **_

_**A/N – I'm finding it really hard to write Eliot/Nate. I love them. And don't get me wrong I ship the canon pairings. I just really wanted more with these two. I think it's because they don't discuss their feelings, because, men, ya know? Any suggestions will be great. Also, I don't know why people think that 22-caliber bullet won't do anything. I read a book by an FBI agent who was undercover in the mob for like six years (go read Donnie Brasco it's a good book) and from a description in that book or another by that Agent a 22 shot point blank into a person's head does a shit ton of damage. Also, sorry for the long wait. I kinda got stuck. **_

_**0000**_

_**Chapter 4**_

_**0000**_

Nate hadn't thought he'd be able to get to sleep so easily; but somehow when Eliot wrapped him in his strong arms it was fairly easy to nod off. It's late and Nate knows it. Everything is quiet downstairs even though he can hear dishes rattling. He smells coffee and it's time to get up and face the day.

They needed to see what Harding is up to and plan their next move. At least he wouldn't have to worry about going back to bar tend for a few days since they got the place shut down.

Nate yawned and moved to stretch. Eliot's arms squeezed him for a second, not willing to let go. Eliot gripped his wrists rather harshly, but as he woke he slowly pulled away from Nate.

"What was that all about anyway?" Nate asked.

"What?" Eliot asked. Stretching, bones cracking in all the wrong places. Nate pushed the blankets away. He glanced over his shoulder at Eliot and waited. Eliot watched him back. Nate could see the younger man trying to figure out what to say. Then, Eliot sat up.

"We're both lonely," and then he's out of bed and pulling on his jeans and a t-shirt. Nate couldn't argue with that. And he wasn't going to take whatever fulfilling thing Eliot had found in holding him during the night. It had been nice. He couldn't deny that even to himself. Eliot is down the stairs and Nate follows, mostly because he'd like coffee and mostly because Eliot doesn't want to talk about it and so he'll be patient and not ask until Eliot wants to speak to him about it.

Nate could tell that they'd fall into something like that pretty easily. Eliot smiled in greeting at Sophie and Parker while Hardison looked at whatever he'd gotten from Harding's computer the night before.

"This guy sure is brazen." Hardison announced to the room.

"How so?" Eliot asked, because Nate was going too. But, Eliot got there first. He flicked Nate's ear. Nate nodded and flipped him the finger. The girls giggled.

"Hey, can you two stop flirting for like two seconds and get your Asses over here?" Hardison demanded. He had his hands on his hips and is glaring a train at them. Nate brings his coffee to the desk and sat down, soon he is joined by the others.

"All right, what'd you find?" Parker asked. Trying to keep the cheer from earlier. Hardison's mood was killing all of their good vibes. Hardison's glare went into a frown but he turned to the computer screen.

"He's a gambler, he likes the track the most. But he fell into business with Montel Lindsey. He's a loan shark and mobster. He's on the FBI's top ten list. He's kept a low profile in Boston now for a few years. He's dangerous too. He's killed at least thirteen people himself. A .22 behind the ear." Hardison makes a gun out of his fingers and points behind his head.

"Is he looking to collect?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah. Harding owes him at least 2 mil." Hardison replied.

"Hmmmmmm…" Eliot studied the computer files with interest. Nate side-ways glanced at him. He always felt weird when he let one of the other's take charge on a job. So far Eliot's plans looked good and will probably work. Nate doesn't plan to tell him he's impressed all ready. He's going to make Eliot work for it.

Eliot rolls ideas around his head and notices Nate looking at him. He smirks a bit and sits back. Two can play at this little game. The payoff will be huge.

"So what's the plan? What do we steal now?" Parker asked Eliot.

"We're going to pull the backwards tail light." Eliot replied.

They all looked at him; Nate smirked and didn't help.

"It's stealing everything right in front of him." Eliot replied.

"But where does the backwards thing come in?" Parker asked.

"Just…" Eliot sighed and walked away. Nate laughed but left soon after. The two disappeared upstairs. The others heard the shower running and the fan going on. Sophie made a mew if disappointment. Parker giggled and Hardison rolled his eyes.

"I guess we don't have to help them get together after all." Parker said.

"What?" Sophie asked distractedly. She may not have a thing for Nate but she couldn't help checking him out every so often.

"Hardison and I were gonna play matchmaker but I think Eliot and Nate finally got the hints." She grinned. Sophie nodded.

"It's about time." Hardison muttered.

"Oh come on, Hardison, its not that bad." Sophie clucked at him.

"I'm the one who wants to learn from Nate," Hardison reminded her.

"I'll talk him into giving you the next one," she promised. That seemed to assuage Hardison so he got them all Wii controllers and they decided on a game to play. Sophie wasn't very good at it but Mario Cart is good for beginners so Hardison didn't mind trying to teach her how to play.

**0000**

Meanwhile upstairs; Nate had tackled Eliot on the bed. The shows is going so he doesn't want to take too much time, afraid that the hot water would run out before they could get in.

"What's wrong?" Nate asked.

"What do you mean?" Eliot asked back. Nate frowned.

"We haven't talked about the shower or last night, are you okay with this?"

"Yes, I'm fine with it." Eliot rolled his eyes.

Nate thought about it for a second and then shrugged, Eliot rolled them over so that now he is on top. He's got Nate pinned to the bed and the Nate doesn't seem to care.

"Actually, are you okay with me…doing this?" Eliot asked.

Nate raised an eyebrow, "I am, surprisingly."

"It won't come into play when we're on jobs." Eliot promised.

"Yeah right, unless I get caught again and not call the safe word." Nate rolled his eyes. Eliot laughed; Nate is right on that one, he had to admit.

"I not sorry about that."

"Let's go take a shower and forget about that one, it really was my fault anyway." Nate admitted. Eliot smiled and chuckled. That's a first. He decided not to push his luck. He helps Nate to his feet, and they both help each other out of their clothes.

**0000**

Leslie fixes her dark, brown hair into a braid. She twists it into a bun and pins it loosely with bobby pins. She looks ready for the office. She wears a dark blue A-line skirt, a white blouse with a dark blue ribbon that's tied into a large bow that droops slightly.

"Do you have all the tech?" Larry asks. He's tall and blonde but slim and gangly. He can't talk to girls at all but somehow Leslie finds him charming. He's not her type, but he's okay. He's also a third rate hacker, and it's an unwritten rule to never talk about Chaos or Alec Hardison in his presence.

"Yeah. I got it all." Leslie turned and waved a small purse at him. There's a hidden compartment inside where she hid the bugs and small button cams for when she got into Harding Sr.'s office. "It's not the first time I've done this." She smiled.

Larry nodded; "Okay, go on then. You know how boss man gets."

Leslie giggles, she slips into some high heels and then she's out of the back room that serves as the Employee Lounge for the club. She passed Alex's office where he and Margaret are fighting. Like they do. And then she's out the door. There's a small beeping sound. She sighs and from her bra she brings out a small, nude colored earpiece.

"You couldn't have waited until I got there?" she said. She hailed a taxi with pulled over. She gave the driver the address and then sat back for the ride.

"I don't know about you, but Alex isn't the best mastermind on the planet. I don't even know why we even stay around."

"Maybe we shouldn't." Leslie mused softly. The driver didn't look back at her.

"I've been making some back up plans to get out of Boston. What do you think about Mexico?" Larry asked.

"I'm not into you like that." Leslie reminded him. Larry sighed.

_**0000**_

Leslie signs in as a visitor and slips past the guards and into the elevators; it isn't hard to also get by Harding Sr.'s Secretary. She's an old woman and her glasses prescription needs to be updated. She smiles and gives a simple story. The woman waves her into the office. Leslie finds it empty, as she had hoped.

Thankfully the office isn't made completely out of glass, which would make this far harder. She put the thumb drive into the computer. It automatically downloads all files so she didn't have to manually do anything. She placed the buttons cam in strategic places and once the drive is done she pocketed it.

She walked out, the old woman looked up in surprise; "what's wrong, dear?"

"I just have to run to the little girls room…" she said and then hurried off.

Leslie couldn't remember when getting in and out of a building was so easy. She may not be the world infamous Parker; but she is good at her job.

**0000**

"Well, well, well…" Hardison smirked as surveillance angles came up on the screens. Parker and Sophie had made popcorn and Eliot – along with Nate – joined them with beers.

"Someone must have bugged Harding Sr.'s office before us." Nate muttered.

"Do we know who?" Sophie asked.

Hardison brought up some additional footage; A woman with dark hair and fair skin, a bit short if not for the heels, and dressed as an office worker could clearly be seen turning the cams on. She pocketed something from the computer and then walked out.

"How're you getting this?" Eliot asked.

"I'm piggy backing off of this horribly encrypted signal." Hardison laughed. "it's so bad, it kinda reminds me of someone I bumped into a while ago."

"Who?" Nate demanded.

"Larry…"

Hardison clicked at his keyboard and brought up a picture of a man who looked rather geeky but in a serf boarder sort of way. "Larry Pickles."

"Pickles?" Parker laughed.

"He's okay, as a coder, but as a hacker he is the worst!" Hardison grinned. His bright white teeth glinted fantastically in the light of the apartment.

"And Harding hired him why?" Nate asked. Eliot tweaked Nate's ear. The older man shot a mock-glare his way.

"He's a two-bit hacker. He lowered his prices because he knew he couldn't compete with the likes of me, or Chaos, for the matter. So, if people can't afford us, they hire him." Hardison explained patiently. Nate nodded.

"What'd they get from his computer?" Sophie asked.

"Probably all sorts of leverage." Hardison muttered. "I'm gonna try and trace the signal back to Pickles."

"I feel bad for him." Parker sighed.

"What? Why?" Hardison twitched at her.

"With a name like Pickles he probably got bullied a lot in school." Parker shrugged.

"Yeah well…." Hardison sighed and turned back to his job.

"I bet we all ready know where he is too." Nate muttered to Eliot.

"The club." Eliot nodded.

"Yeah." Nate agreed.

"Of course, so you don't have to trace him at all." Parker sat up and clapped her hands. Nate and Eliot watched as it dawned on her as well. They'd spoke soft enough that they didn't think she had heard them.

"Oh!" Hardison snapped his fingers at head height, "of course. The Club!"

"They're using it as their head quarters, so it is a front, but not at the same time." Nate said.

"So….how are we gonna steal it from them?" Sophie asked.

Eliot turned to Nate; "I like your Jimmy Apopo…whatever…cover."

Nate grinned widely, "ya know what? Me too."

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**_The Starter Job_**

**_Fandom – Leverage_**

**_Pairings – Eliot/Nate_**

**_Rating – R_**

**_Disclaimer – I do not own the characters of Leverage or their world. I own the OC's and the copy right to this story. I don't make any money off this; it's just for fun. _**

**_Warnings – Heavy on the slash, m/m, so if you don't like that sort of thing please don't read my story. I only want people who like m/m to read this. Because that means they may leave me nice reviews. Lol. And due to rules, no sex scenes. But if I write them I'll put a link to those who are interested. _**

**_Summary – The team takes on a job for a same-sex couple who run a specialty bar. Only someone is using it to run cons and ruin their reputation. It's up to the team to piece the puzzle together and run the bad guys out of town. _**

**_A/N – I had a good beginning to this one, but then my computer fucked around and I lost it. Ugh. Also a good way to shut your kid up if they're complaining about an ailment they don't have, give them tic-tac's and call it medicine._**

**_A/N 2 - ALSO SEX IN THIS PART. AT THE END. JUST A WARNING. _**

**_0000_**

**_Chapter 5_**

**_0000_**

Alex fixed his tie for the fifth time that morning. He paced the sparse office. All sorts of excuses circled his brain. Montel Lindsey is due to arrive in just about fifteen minutes. He was expecting part of the 2 million that Alex owed him; except he didn't have 2 million dollars to give him. The room got warm suddenly and the walls started to cave in. Alex went for the liqueur cabinet. He pulled out a bottle of vodka and guzzled down half of it before he realized what he was doing.

He stumbled to his desk; searching for the tic-tac box he kept in a drawer he did not hear the door open. Though the newest bar tender did make him jump, when he looked up, expect Montel Lindsey to be in the doorway instead; the vodka bottle – which he'd balanced on the edge of the desk – crashed to the floor. Alex sighed and slumped in the chair.

"Ah, sorry to startle you," the man said, he had a towel and went to clean up the mess; he picked up the glass and sopped the rest of the alcohol up as best he could with the towel.

"Don't you know it's rude to just walk in without knocking?" Alex gnashed his teeth.

"I did knock, I guess you were too distracted. Not that I blame you." The man replied.

"Look…what's your name?"

"Jimmy." Jimmy replied. "and aaaahhh…if I had your gambling debts I'd have gotten out of town ages ago."

Alex sighed and glared. "As if you know anything."

"I may," Jimmy shrugged he got to his feet. "Anyway, we're out of limes and lemons."

"And that's my problem because?" Alex found the tic-tac container and popped a few orange flavored pill-looking things into his mouth. Jimmy cocked his head to the side, folded his arms and waited.

"Okay fine, how much do you need?" Alex pulled out his wallet.

"A hundred should do it." Jimmy replied. He twitched a bit. Alex handed the money over and then Jimmy left. Now, he had to figure out how to talk Montel Lindsey out of killing him. Which is going to be easier said than done.

**_0000_**

"Were you able to plant the bug?" Eliot asked.

"Yeah," Nate muttered just loud enough for the COM to pick up. He rolled his eyes at one of the button cams as he walked out of the bar to go get more limes and lemons. It was always best to use a truth than a lie when it came to planting bugs. Lucile the Second is parked a half block away on Nate's rout and the grocer just beyond that. The early afternoon foot traffic is light, it'll be hours before they open but it pays to run a place people know is reputable; where there won't be trouble and serve good drinks.

Nate passes the van and Eliot hops out to walk beside him; "is the signal clear?"

"Yeah but he isn't talking or anything." Eliot replied.

"He will soon." Nate replied. They walked into the grocer and Eliot grabbed a basket. He and Nate loaded it up with limes and lemons. The clerk probably would have given Nate a look if Eliot hadn't flirted with her. He did that hair flip thing and brought his most luscious smile to bear on her. She giggled as he said something inane about the house smelling like skunk. The clerk is a now far too starry eyed to do anything but ring them up and they leave with the two paper bags.

"What was that all about?" Nate asked. It was kind of stupid, but he just wanted to be on the same page.

"Please, some old man buying a shit load of lemons and limes looks weird. If we're made and someone comes asking questions she'll only remember a very good looking guy flirting with her." Eliot explained.

"Good."

"But you knew that all ready." Eliot frowned.

Nate shrugged; "I did but I wanted to know if you did."

"Are you trying to train me? You know I worked on my own, right?"

"Yes. I usually knew it was your work by how many noses you broke." Nate smirked.

"Hardy-har-har…"

"Anyway, don't come in unless something happens. We still need to solidify our covers. It looks like a long con on this one." Nate said as they approached the van. Hardison stuck his head out, huge 90's styled headphones hung about his neck.

"Anything?" Eliot asked.

"I'd have interrupted ya'll if there was, but no." Hardison clucked at them.

Eliot hissed through his nose.

"Okay, you guys sit tight." Nate said, "and Hardison, you start at seven, don't forget."

"Oh man…" the tech rolled his eyes and ducked back in. Eliot swung himself and into the van as well and shut he door while Nate continued down the street to the bar.

**0000**

Montel Lindsey is a large, black man with an attitude. He worked his way up the mob ladder and is now the biggest mob boss on the East Coast. Boston isn't his usual haunt and the only crew working for him is Harding's. Who hasn't paid up and so deserves a face-to-face pep talk. The bar Harding owns and runs is empty when he arrives. He leaves his men outside as he walks into the office.

Alex looks to be on his third bottle of vodka and about to loose it. Montel sighes.

"You little shit." He mutters as he takes the bottle away, "is this what you're pissing my money off on?"

"I had it all in investments, then my father liquidated said investments and won't give me the money, I lost the job." Alex explains somewhat drunkenly.

Montel oscillates between capping the bastard in the kneecap or giving him more time to come up with the money. Either way he'll be liquidating Alex Harding.

"Get me my money one way or another," he growls. He throws the bottle onto the floor where it shatters. He picks up a piece of it and leans over Alex. He puts it under the man's eye. "Or you're gonna loose parts until I get it all back."

Alex swallows in lieu of a head nod; "sure thing, boss." He promises.

**0000**

Hours later and after last call Alex is waiting for Jimmy to finish up so he can lock up the club. He still hasn't gotten a fix for his money problems and he has a debt to pay up real soon; still, he can't help checking out the new bar tender. He's older than what Alex usually goes for. Which would mean he's probably used to topping but Alex can't help but imagine Jimmy beneath him.

He's struck out of these thoughts when Jimmy approaches him; "anything else, Boss?" he asks.

"Yeah…" Alex smirks and then grabs Jimmy's shirt collar. He pulls Jimmy in for a kiss, its dominant and he pushes his tongue into the older man's mouth. Jimmy pushes him away and frowns once the kiss is broken.

"What was that for?" he asked, trying to decide if he wants to deck Alex or not. Alex shrugs.

"See you tomorrow," and then he pushes Jimmy out the door and locks it behind. He makes a beeline for his office. He has work to do.

Nate stand on the street with the bitter aftertaste of vodka in his mouth and he does not want to know how Eliot is yelling right now because he can hear Hardison trying to calm him down. He sighs. It's time to face the music.

**_0000_**

Eliot is pacing the apartment by the time Nate gets back. Parker, Sophie and Hardison are nowhere to be seen and so Nate assumes they have left so that he and Eliot have the privacy to hash things out.

"Eliot…" Nate holds up his hand in the universal "I give up" sign to try and calm his partner down. "Don't get upset about it."

"He kissed you." Eliot pointed a finger at Nate.

"And I did not kiss back." Nate replied, "I doubt you can see it on the camera's but I didn't invite it."

"I know, it's not your fault but…." Eliot runs hands through his hair and pulls a bit. Nate thinks it's adorable.

"So, do something about it." he challenges. Because Eliot has been challenged unknowingly by Alex and he wants to know the Nate knows where he belongs and that Eliot has to show him and Nate is proud of knowing this about Eliot. The younger man growls at him and then he's right there in Nate's face.

Nate takes a step backwards as Eliot captures his lips and does his best to erase the one Alex bestowed on Nate; he's backed up to the wall by the door, hard. Eliot has a knee between Nate's legs and hands on Nate's shoulders to pin him sufficiently.

Nate can't guess at how long they swapped saliva; but he does know he is hard and he wants Eliot right there and now. Though, at the same time, he knows he can't make the next move. The ball is in Eliot's court and he has to let Eliot take charge. It's important to the younger man and Nate wants Eliot to know that he understands.

Eliot rips Nate's shirt off.

"Hey!" Nate can't help but say in surprise.

"I'll buy you a new one, now shut up…" Eliot says and then he's kissing him again as he takes the rags and ties it around Nate's wrists so that his arms are pinned behind him.

"What…" Nate gripes as he pulls on the restraints. Eliot pinches his side.

"I said to be quiet, Nate…" he reminds him with a growl. Nate nods. He had forgotten.

Eliot is undoing Nate's trousers now and seconds later Nate is completely naked. Eliot grasps Nate's cock and slicks it up with the man's own cum. Nate shivers beneath Eliot's grip and can't help but piston's his hips in order to get more. Eliot smirks as he watches Nate loose himself in the pleasure. He works Nate over for several moments, and then Nate gasps as he cums all over them. Nate can hardly focus on Eliot who's smiling. His hand is covered in Nate's cum and his fingers move to Nate's entrance. He inserts a finger rather roughly. Nate hisses in slight discomfort but doesn't put words to it. Eliot works his fingers in such a way to make sure that Nate isn't too uncomfortable. He can hear it in the soundless breathing of the older man. It takes a few minutes but eventually he slides into Nate. Their breath mingles and the wall is strong.

TBC


End file.
